Write to a Clone Day
by creativeone298
Summary: Jalena Indiarra is in a class that is writing holomail to clones for a project. When Jalena gets assigned to Fives, she starts to realize that she cares for him. (This isn't going to be a romance story)
1. What and Why?

Write to a clone day. It was something that Jalena's school had never tried before, but with the Republic just having saved their planet from Separatist occupation, they figured it was the least they could do. Jalena already knew that it would be awkward. What would she write to a clone about anyway?

They were all getting assigned numbers from the 501st Legion, who had provided most of the offense against the Separatists. It was part of the day's events-they would have to research the number in a Republic database, which would provide the nickname of their clone, and the battles that they had been in. After that, they would have to research the battles. To Jalena, it was already starting to sound like the preparations that she would do for a research paper.

The teacher, Mr. Undari, had printed all of the numbers onto slips of paper, cut them up, and put them into a hat. Everyone whispered excitedly, hoping to get one of the more well-known clones.

"I hope I get to write to Captain Rex!"

"Did you hear how he did at the battle of…"

So on and so forth. Naturally, everyone begged for first choice, and when Yarkay got first, everyone looked at him with an envious glare. He read off the designation number, and groaned when he realized that he hadn't heard of the clone behind it. So did most other people after him, but some got clones that they recognized. Clinee yelled that he got Rex and everyone in line behind him groaned, since he was apparently the only clone anyone wanted to contact. Finally, Jalena got to the front, and picked up a slip of paper. ARC-5555. She let out a low whistle. She didn't know much about clones from the tiny unit her class had done about them, but she knew that beginning of the number designation. Her clone was an ARC trooper. Jalena's interest level rose.

As she looked Fives up, she was continually impressed by his battle skills. After trying to not shed a tear after reading his description of the events on the Battle of Umbara, she decided to write him.

_Dear Fives,_

_It's "write to a clone" day at my school, so that was the original reason I was going to write to you. You know, a half-effort "thanks for saving our planet." But that's before I found about your battle skills. You sound amazing! I'll bet it's terrifying out there, but kudos to you for fighting on the front lines a lot (I heard the 501__st__gets a lot of action). _

_Now that that's over with, what are you like as an individual? I read your description about Umbara, and you made a point of clones being different people. So, what's there to know about you? Do you have any good friends? See any cute girls (or boys, I dunno) around the galaxy? What do clones do for fun? If you could write back, that'd be awesome._

_Sincerely,_

_Jalena Indiarra._

As Jalena hit the button that would send it to his holomail account, she started feeling stupid. What if Fives thought that she was annoying? What if he didn't respond, or gave her a cookie-cutter response? Her thoughts were cut off by the bell that signified the end of the day, and she walked, home, wondering again if she'd get a response from her soldier.


	2. Fives' Response

Two weeks had passed since Jalena had written to Fives. During that time, Jalena had taken to watching the news with her parents, hoping to find some mention of him. Her parents had wondered what made Jalena suddenly inclined to current events, but Jalena didn't say. She didn't know why, but she wanted to keep her and Fives' communication to herself. Finally, she checked her holomail account, and an email from the address: ARC-5555 . She suppressed a victorious shout and opened the holomail.

_To Jalena:_

_ "__Write to a clone" day, eh? A lot of my brothers have gotten these letters as well, but since yours was longer than most of theirs, I'm taking a bit longer to respond. You're welcome for saving your planet-it's my job. To your other point, the battlefield can be scary sometimes, but it's become routine for most of us 501__st__guys, because, like you said, we do get a lot of action. _

_Do I have any friends? Yeah, I like a guy named "Tup." He's a good guy. I also like General Skywalker-you're bound to have heard of him, you know, the reckless Jedi who always manages to save the day. A girl who I would consider a friend, Commander Tano, recently left the Jedi order, and her position as Commander-I didn't see her as much as Captain Rex, but I did like her. I miss her. I actually see a lot of cute girls around the galaxy (and some of my counterparts do "bat for the other team," so to speak, but I don't know how old you are, and because of that, whether or not I should explain why), but I never actually get to talk to them, or they're married (lucky me). What do clones do for fun? Well, a lot of us have fun by going to the clone bar, but getting drunk isn't my top way to have fun. I like to trade stories, and grab a bite of actual civilian food to eat. Also, some of us do like to read-I'm currently reading a story written about a Sith who falls madly in love with a Jedi. I find it best to read stories that aren't about being a soldier-too close to home._

_Now, Jalena, I have some questions for you. How old are you? What's your favorite thing to study? What's your opinion on the senate?_

_Sincerely,_

_Fives_

Jalena was happy. Fives had certainly not disappointed her with his reply. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to write up a reply because she had to go to school. She started on the road to the hallowed halls of learning, when she was joined up by her friend, Undia.

"You seem to have an extra spring in your step. What gives?" Undia asked. Jalena paused, still wanting to keep the fact that she was extremely excited about Fives writing her back a secret.

"Mom made me my favorite breakfast this morning. Also, it's sunny for the first time in forever. What's not to love?"

"Good point." The rest of the way was silent, and the girls got to the school on the warning bell, causing them to scurry to their classroom.

"Good morning, class." Mr. Undari said, his voice brighter than usual. "We have some good news today; I just received word that the final clone trooper has sent in his response! That means that we can compare and contrast letters, and our opinions on them!" The class erupted in conversation-most people had gotten a response that had disappointed them. As Mr. Undari asked everyone to pull up their holomails, Jalena got nervous-she saw that hers was more personal than most of her classmates'. Most of them had sent emails, asking them about particular battles or talking solely about how "cool" and "awesome" they were, leaving no room for response but a polite "thank you." As the lunch bell rang, Jalena pulled her teacher aside; she was going to try to have her privacy intact.

"Jalena. This is unusual." Mr. Undari said.

"I know. Look, my letter is kind of…personal, and I don't want to parade it in front of the class. Is it okay if nobody sees it?"

"Didn't you pay attention? I said that you were going to have to share your letter with the class."

"No-I originally thought this would be stupid, but I started to like Fives. If someone must read it, can you read it for a grade and dock two percent or something for it not being read to the class? It's got all of the material you asked for." Jalena huffed. Mr. Undari pulled up the holomail, and proceeded to read the exchange between Jalena and Fives.

"This is actually 100 percent material-if you would just let me read it…" Mr. Undari smirked, knowing he had Jalena beaten. He knew that she was invested in this project, and she definitely needed the perfect score to boost her grade.

Jalena hung her head. "Fine. You can read it. Just don't make a huge deal about it, okay?" Jalena walked away to the lunchroom.

"What was that about?" Undia asked. Jalena felt horrible coming up with two lies to her friend today, but she also didn't want to ruin her image.

"My grades." Jalena muttered, settling for a half-lie.

"Oh. You think you'll have to do summer school?"

"Not after what I just settled with Mr. Undari."

"What did you settle?"

Jalena sighed. "You'll see."


End file.
